Chocolate Christmas Cake Recipe

This is a Christmas cake with a difference, it is a chocolate Christmas cake, and one of my favourite recipes from the Nigella’s Christmas book. Even though it has prunes in it you do not taste them, but they do give it that soft texture. It is just so easy to make, you just more or less melt everything in a sauceplan and then pour the mixture into your tin and bake. What could be easier?

If you like to be prepared at Christmas you can make this cake 2 weeks before Christmas as it keeps in a tin, wrapped in greaseproof paper and foil. Though you can make it even 3 months in advance and freeze it. I often just make it the day before Christmas eve, any sooner and it will be immediately eaten.

Method

Start by preheating the oven to gas mark 2, 150°C or 300°F. Then using a 20cm/8in round, loose-bottomed cake tin, line the insides and bottom with a double layer of greaseproof paper.Then wrap the outside of the cake tin with brown parcel paper, making it slightly higher than the sides, and tie it in place with kitchen twine.

For the cake, put all the fruit, butter, sugar, runny honey, Tia Maria, orange zest and juice, mixed spice and cocoa powder into a large saucepan and bring the mixture gently to the boil, constantly stirring until all the butter is melted. Leave to simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. Now remove from the heat and leave to cool, it will take approximately 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes the mixture should be cool enough to stir in the beaten eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Make sure everything is fully combined.

Now the fruit cake mixture can be poured into your prepared cake tin and placed in the middle of the oven and left to bake for 105 –120 minutes. Using a cake tester you will find the centre of the cake it will still be a little gooey and the top of the cake will have a shiny and sticky appearance but should be firm to touch.

Once cool remove from the cake tin, decorate and it is ready for your Christmas buffet table.

You can make the cake well advance of Christmas, to keep it moist wrap it in greaseproof paper and a layer of foil and place in an airtight tin or you can freeze it.